Pepperell Selectmen Set Town Meeting for June 22, Election for June 29

PEPPERELL — April 13, 2020 — Pepperell selectmen vote to move annual town meeting to June 22 and local election to June 29 amid pandemic. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday on both dates after Town Administrator Andrew Nolan coordinated with neighboring Townsend and Ashby to preserve a common North Middlesex School District election date; expanded absentee and early voting options under the Governor's Chapter 53 of the Acts of 2020 will accompany both events. The board took no action on three options under the same law to defer property tax, excise tax, and water bill deadlines, accepting a unanimous recommendation from the finance team — Assessor Maureen Bulger, Treasurer-Collector Debbie Nutter, and Town Accountant Bill Schlossstein — that roughly 75 percent of property taxes arrive via mortgage-company clearing houses that would simply retain the money, costing the town an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 per month in lost interest on up to $5 million in held funds. The board also heard a full presentation from the Light, Air, and Noise Bylaw Committee on a proposed outdoor lighting general bylaw, with Vice Chair Tim Brothers citing NASA satellite data showing Pepperell's light pollution growing at roughly 6 percent per year, three times the national rate, though no vote was taken and at least one selectman argued existing zoning bylaws were sufficient.